1/10 We recently came across these rare and largely unpublished images of Southern Californians during the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic in the archives at @TheHuntington. Although they are poignant they also give us a glimpse of hope.

2/10 Early social distancing measures helped to significantly flatten the curve in Los Angeles during the 1918-1919 flu season.

3/10 While elected officials in many other cities in the nation were slow to issue quarantine orders, municipal leaders from across Southern California early mandated the closure of schools, theaters, churches, dance halls, and other public meeting places.

4/10 Medical professionals in California also had contentious debates over the efficacy of gauze masks but the governor, William Stephens, issued a request that the public wear them voluntarily as a way of helping to control the pandemic.